Conservative Justices and Their Sometimes-Conservative Decision-Making

One issue with conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court is that they do not always vote conservative.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of Trump's three appointed justices from his first term, has split away from other conservatives before, maybe most notably on Bostock v. Clayton County, a case that protected transgender employees from discrimination in the workplace. Chief Justice John Roberts is a bit of a wild card with where he falls on certain issues compared to the other conservatives as well.

Liberal justices always vote liberal on important cases. Some of those more important cases also can have lasting effects on America. Also, judges don't always read the Constitution the same way the Founding Fathers wrote it.

Houston-based Attorney Jared Woodfill is an originalist and hopes judges and justices will take up a similar approach when dealing with the cases that matter most.

"If you can't see it from the actual words of the Constitution itself, I think it's fair to go back and look at the Founding Fathers' writings," said Woodfill. "I think that can give you some direction."

Some of those writings emphasized a Godly-heritage and Judeo-Christian values.

Woodfill mentioned justices Barrett and Gorsuch as two who haven't always made their decisions based on Trump's appointment of them.

President-elect Donald Trump may have the chance to appoint another judge to the Supreme Court once he takes back the White House for another four years. How Trump will decide to fill a vacancy will be based on who Trump trusts in his inner circle.

"The great thing about President Trump is he surrounds himself with individuals who are solid conservatives and have a long conservative record," Woodfill said.

Plus, in his second time around, the president-elect will know better who to pick and who to stay away from when it comes to selecting people for some of the most important positions in U.S. government.

Trump has already appointed some great federal judges from his first term as president, including some key picks in Texas. Woodfill believes there are judges in Texas who have enough experience now that would make great options for an appointment to the Supreme Court, with Justice Clarence Thomas believed to be stepping down at some point over the next four years and maybe even Justice Samuel Alito. That would give Trump his fourth and perhaps fifth appointments to the high court.

Woodfill also hopes Trump would appoint someone younger and similar to Clarence Thomas to take on a lifelong duty on the Supreme Court.

"He is one who seems to never veer from his conservative principles," he said.

It's also expected there will be a lot of cases come before the Supreme Court dealing with immigration.